F-3 Shadow
The Finyon Techwin F-3 Shadow is the primary fighter aircraft of the Air Force of the Federated States of Lipitehsys. It took almost ten years to be designed and introduced into service, owing to its complexity. The F-3 was originally designed as an air superiority fighter, however a ground attack variant has been developed. Development In 2002, then Defence Minister Shakuri announced plans to replace the current Lehysian air superiority fighter, the F-2, under the TwentyFirst Century Fighter Program and brought together some of the foremost Lehysian companies and tasked them with creating a fighter aircraft that was impossible to best in battle. Spearheading the project was Finyon Techwin, which was responsible for almost all of the design and testing. Topping on the list of requirements were supermaneuverability, very high speed, good acceleration, and good range. Upon recieving the formal request from the Air Force, Finyon Techwin brought in additional companies and dismissed some others, and they set to work to create what would be the F-3. After four years of design, the first prototype was built and tested in a wind tunnel. This prototype was solely for testing the design when the aircraft was at speed, but did not contain engines, and therefore never flew. After extensive testing of the flightless prototype, three working prototypes were built, each closer to the production F-3 than the last. The first and second prototypes are in museums, while the third and final prototype is hidden in storage, as it is nearly identical to the production F-3. Design The F-3 is a twin engine, rear-swept design. It is supermaneuveurable, since it has a high thrust to weight ratio, many control surfaces, includes a digital fly-by-wire system, and is aerodynamically unstable. Canted vertical stabilisers provide additional maneuverability. The F-3 was designed with stealth in mind, and a mix of technologies has made it virtually invisible to rader. When necessary, the F-3 includes a built in jammer to jam missiles that manage to lock on. Additional countermeasures include infrared flares, as well as the ability to dump-and-burn, although this is only used in the direst of circumstances. As one of the world's most advanced fighter aircraft, the F-3 has numerous cutting edge features not found in other aircraft. One of these is its extreme speed, up to Mach 3.5, which allows it to outrun most, if not all missiles. This speed is rarely used, as it is not very efficient. Instead, the typical cruise speed is just under Mach 2, which is most economical and grants the largest range. The Mach 3.5 high speed can cause excessive heat, so the F-3 was designed with heat deflecting materials in mind, and includes an internal cooling system using fuel as the conduit. The F-3 engines were specially designed, and are resistant to stalling and to flame-out. These engines were designed with reliabilty in mind, and are easy to service. Of all previous generations of fighter aircraft in the Lehysian Air Force, the F-3 requires minimal maintanence, and only rarely has issues. In the newer F-3I, the aircraft can report by itself if a part is worn and needs to be replaced, speeding maintanence further. Variants F-3A/B The F-3A was the primary variant of the F-3, and was designed as a air superiority fighter. The F-3B is nearly identical except that it is a two seat trainer version. The fuel tank was made smaller to accomodate the additional seat, but this only affects range by about 10%, which isn't a major difference for a training aircraft. When necessary, the F-3B can be used in combat, as it has all the necessary systems, but the F-3A is prefered for front-line combat. The F-3A is no longer in service, while the F-3B is still used as a trainer aircraft to train F-3G pilots, even though it lacks the F-3G's cannon. F-3C The F-3C was the designation for upgraded F-3A units. They recieved more efficient powerplants that produce more power with the same input, more powerful flight computers, more advanced radar, more powerful and efficient engines and a slightly enlarged fuel tank. The larger fuel tank was due to more advanced computers taking less space. The F-3C is no longer in service. F-3G The F-3G is the designation for the ground attack variant of the F-3. All F-3As and F-3Cs were converted to the F-3G specifications when the F-3I was introduced. The F-3G very noticeably deviates from the F-3C and F-3A in multiple ways, in order to suit it for the new role. The engines were replaced with engines that focus on effeciency more than speed, unlike the F-3A/C. The wings were replaced with wings with a much lower degree of sweep, and they also have a higher aspect ratio. This allows for a larger payload of munitions. Another key difference is the addition of a large 35mm gatling style cannon, similar to the A-10, instead of the smaller standard 20mm cannon used for air to air combat. Software on the F-3G focuses on ground attacks more than air to air combat. Also, on the F-3G there are pylons added on to hold additional munitions. Internally, the internal weapons bay now holds the gatling cannon's munition drum. F-3I The F-3I is the newest variant of the F-3 and takes advantage of the advent of Artificial Intelligence. Due to the removal of the cockpit, a larger fuel tank was installed, taking advantage of the empty space and increasing range. A more powerful computer was also installed, and a datalink with a bigger bandwidth was installed to allow for the inter-AI communications. RF-3I The RF-3I is a reconnassaince variant of the F-3 (R for recon). The biggest design difference is a smaller weapons bay to accomodate reconnassaince equipment. Because of the smaller bay, the RF-3I only carries a limited number of air to air missiles for self defence, and is therefore never used in offensives. Also, the RF-3I has attachable wing pylons to allow additional equipment to be attached, at the cost of stealth. YF-3 The YF-3 is the code name for the prototypes of what would become the F-3. All but one are in museums, with the one not in museum in Air Force storage. Category:Military